LOUISVILLE -- A light at the end of the long, darkened Safeway on South Boulder Road flickered on this past week, with a local developer inking a contract with the grocer to purchase the empty building.

Louisville's economic development director, Bonnie Star, said Boulder-based Loftus Development signed a contract with Safeway on Wednesday and has plans to turn the 26,588-square-foot store -- shuttered since mid-May -- into a mixed-use project.

"He will likely be pursuing a rezoning of some sort," she said, referring to the company's owner, Jim Loftus.

She said she didn't have a specific development plan in front of her and couldn't provide details on the mix of retail and residential envisioned at the Village Square shopping center site.

Neither Loftus nor the broker on the deal, SRS Real Estate Partners' Jason Kinsey, could be reached, despite multiple attempts. A representative for Safeway declined to comment on the pending deal.

Star said Louisville was hoping that a large retail operation, perhaps an organic grocery store, would have filled Safeway's space at 707 E. South Boulder Road.

"The site has been a tax-producing asset for us and in the best of all worlds we'd like that type of retail to take over the same space," she said.

But after several inquiries and no bids over the past 11 months, the city opened itself up to other development possibilities. Star said she doubts that a project will get far with the City Council without offering "some retail" at the site.

Advertisement

Sales tax revenues along the commercial corridor where Safeway operated plunged dramatically last year -- falling 39 percent -- from $307,000 in 2009 to $188,000 in 2010, according to city tax data. Over the past five years, sales tax revenues have fallen by 50 percent in the district.

Loftus has about six months to perform due diligence on the Safeway site, Star said, before closing on the deal.

At the Village Square shopping center last week, business owners greeted the news of the possible redevelopment with restrained optimism.

Rajiv Shukla, owner of Village Square Wine & Spirits, said his business volume declined by nearly 30 percent after Safeway's closure last year and hasn't recovered.

He was reluctant to comment on the prospects of revitalizing the 30-year-old plaza without seeing more detailed plans, but he made known his immediate preference.

"I wanted something, like an anchor, that could bring more crowds," Shukla said. "But something is better than nothing."

Pizza King owner Steve Duncan also said he was "concerned" about a mixed-use project coming in place of a big box retailer, especially because Village Square, where he has been since February 2010, is not a "destination" shopping center.

But he also said he'd rather see something come in than continue staring at a hulking grocery store with no customers and no business.

In related news, Star said that earlier this month she learned that U-Haul was eyeing the shuttered Sam's Club on McCaslin Boulevard as a possible truck rental and storage location.

The giant retailer laid off 125 workers when it closed in January 2010. Louisville is eager to see a new retail tenant occupy the 127,000-square-foot building at 550 S. McCaslin Blvd.

Star said it's unlikely that the City Council would approve a U-Haul at that location because of covenants with adjacent property owners that prohibit vehicle rentals. She said the Sam's Club spot is still a good site for a traditional retail outlet.

Joanne Fried, a spokeswoman for U-Haul, said the company made an offer to Sam's Club parent company, Walmart, to buy the building. But she said neither company has been able to arrive at an agreed upon price.